FRUIT PRODUCTION OF A SIX-YEAR OLD SHOREA STENOPTERA PLANTATION AT HAURBENTES, BOGOR, INDONESIA

A  six-year  old  plantation  of  Shorea  stenoptera  at Haurbentes,  Bogor  flowered  for  the  first  time  on October, 1987. In plots of 270 m2, 12 of the 32 trees had opened flowers. The average heights of flowering and non-flowering trees were 400 cm and 270 cm, respectively. The flowers and fruits were counted four times from October 28, 1987 until February 17, 1988. In October, a total of 24313 flowers existed and 1.9% of them became mature fruits on February, 1988. The fruit production was 308 kg/ha and 133 kg/ha in fresh and dry weights, respectively

Fruit Production of a Six-year Old Shorea Stenoptera Plantation at Haurbentes, Bogor, Indonesia

A six-year old plantation of Shorea stenoptera at Haurbentes, Bogor flowered for the first time on October, 1987. In plots of 270 m2, 12 of the 32 trees had opened flowers. The average heights of flowering and non-flowering trees were 400 cm and 270 cm, respectively. The flowers and fruits were counted four times from October 28, 1987 until February 17, 1988. In October, a total of 24313 flowers existed and 1.9% of them became mature fruits on February, 1988. The fruit production was 308 kg/ha and 133 kg/ha in fresh and dry weights, respectively

VEGETATION OF FRESH WATER SWAMPY AREAS IN WEST AND CENTRAL KALIMANTAN

Vegetation types in fresh water swampy areas: Mandor in West Kalimantan and Lahei in Central Kalimantan, were compared.There were three types: kerangas, kerangas shrub and peat swamp forest. Kerangas forests in both areas had similar flora in some extent.That of peat swamp was very different from kerangas though both vegetations distributed in adjacent area

Large trees drive forest aboveground biomass variation in moist lowland forests accross the tropics

peer reviewedaudience: researcher, professional, studentAim Large trees (d.b.h. 70 cm) store large amounts of biomass. Several studies suggest that large trees may be vulnerable to changing climate, potentially leading to declining forest biomass storage. Here we determine the importance of large trees for tropical forest biomass storage and explore which intrinsic (species trait) and extrinsic (environment) variables are associated with the density of large trees and forest biomass at continental and pan-tropical scales. Location Pan-tropical. Methods Aboveground biomass (AGB) was calculated for 120 intact lowland moist forest locations. Linear regression was used to calculate variation in AGB explained by the density of large trees. Akaike information criterion weights (AICcwi) were used to calculate averaged correlation coefficients for all possible multiple regression models between AGB/density of large trees and environmental and species trait variables correcting for spatial autocorrelation. Results Density of large trees explained c. 70% of the variation in pan-tropical AGB and was also responsible for significantly lower AGB in Neotropical [287.8 (mean) 105.0 (SD) Mg ha-1] versus Palaeotropical forests (Africa 418.3 91.8 Mg ha-1; Asia 393.3 109.3 Mg ha-1). Pan-tropical variation in density of large trees and AGB was associated with soil coarseness (negative), soil fertility (positive), community wood density (positive) and dominance of wind dispersed species (positive), temperature in the coldest month (negative), temperature in the warmest month (negative) and rainfall in the wettest month (positive), but results were not always consistent among continents. Main conclusions Density of large trees and AGB were significantly associated with climatic variables, indicating that climate change will affect tropical forest biomass storage. Species trait composition will interact with these future biomass changes as they are also affected by a warmer climate. Given the importance of large trees for variation in AGB across the tropics, and their sensitivity to climate change, we emphasize the need for in-depth analyses of the community dynamics of large trees

An estimate of the number of tropical tree species

The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher’s alpha and an approximate pantropical stem total to estimate the minimum number of tropical forest tree species to fall between ∼40,000 and ∼53,000, i.e. at the high end of previous estimates. Contrary to common assumption, the Indo-Pacific region was found to be as species-rich as the Neotropics, with both regions having a minimum of ∼19,000–25,000 tree species. Continental Africa is relatively depauperate with a minimum of ∼4,500–6,000 tree species. Very few species are shared among the African, American, and the Indo-Pacific regions. We provide a methodological framework for estimating species richness in trees that may help refine species richness estimates of tree-dependent taxa

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Large trees drive forest aboveground biomass variation in moist lowland forests across the tropics, Global

ABSTRACT Aim Large trees (d.b.h. Ն 70 cm) store large amounts of biomass. Several studies suggest that large trees may be vulnerable to changing climate, potentially leading to declining forest biomass storage. Here we determine the importance of large trees for tropical forest biomass storage and explore which intrinsic (species trait) and extrinsic (environment) variables are associated with the density of large trees and forest biomass at continental and pan-tropical scales. Location Pan-tropical. Methods Aboveground biomass (AGB) was calculated for 120 intact lowland moist forest locations. Linear regression was used to calculate variation in AGB explained by the density of large trees. Akaike information criterion weights (AICcwi) were used to calculate averaged correlation coefficients for all possible multiple regression models between AGB/density of large trees and environmental and species trait variables correcting for spatial autocorrelation. Results Density of large trees explained c. 70% of the variation in pan-tropical AGB and was also responsible for significantly lower AGB in Neotropical [287.8 (mean) Ϯ 105.0 (SD) Mg ha ). Pan-tropical variation in density of large trees and AGB was associated with soil coarseness (negative), soil fertility (positive), community wood density (positive) and dominance of wind dispersed species (positive), temperature in the coldest month (negative), temperature in the warmest month (negative) and rainfall in the wettest month (positive), but results were not always consistent among continents. Main conclusions Density of large trees and AGB were significantly associated with climatic variables, indicating that climate change will affect tropical forest biomass storage. Species trait composition will interact with these future biomass changes as they are also affected by a warmer climate. Given the importance of large trees for variation in AGB across the tropics, and their sensitivity to climate change, we emphasize the need for in-depth analyses of the community dynamics of large trees. bs_bs_banner Global Ecology and Biogeography, (Global Ecol. Biogeogr.

Phylogenetic classification of the world's tropical forests

Knowledge about the biogeographic affinities of the world’s tropical forests helps to better understand regional differences in forest structure, diversity, composition, and dynamics. Such understanding will enable anticipation of region-specific responses to global environmental change. Modern phylogenies, in combination with broad coverage of species inventory data, now allow for global biogeographic analyses that take species evolutionary distance into account. Here we present a classification of the world’s tropical forests based on their phylogenetic similarity. We identify five principal floristic regions and their floristic relationships: (i) Indo-Pacific, (ii) Subtropical, (iii) African, (iv) American, and (v) Dry forests. Our results do not support the traditional neo- versus paleotropical forest division but instead separate the combined American and African forests from their Indo-Pacific counterparts. We also find indications for the existence of a global dry forest region, with representatives in America, Africa, Madagascar, and India. Additionally, a northern-hemisphere Subtropical forest region was identified with representatives in Asia and America, providing support for a link between Asian and American northern-hemisphere forests.</p

TREE FLORA ON FRESHWATER WET HABITATS IN LOWLAND OF BORNEO: DOES WETNESS COOL THE SITES?

SUZUKI, E. 2010. Tree flora on freshwater wet habitats in lowland of borneo: does wetness cool the sites?. Reinwardtia 13(2): 199-210. - The floristic records of lowland forests of Borneo in dry (not inundated) and wet (kerangas and peat swamp) habitats, and in montane forest of West Java were compared to clarify the characteristics of the flora in the lowland wet habitats. The data was flora of trees (DBH is equal to or more than 4.8 cm) in 12, 7, and 3 plots in dry lowland, wet lowland and mountain, respectively (20.9 ha in total). Plots in dry habitats had 42 to 53 families in 1 ha, except two plots on river banks (33 and 37 families). Plots in wet habitats and in mountain had 32 - 45 and 21 - 40 families, respectively. The clusters of plots in dendrogram using number of species in family mostly coincided with the difference in habitats. The preference for wet habitats existed in some families: Aquifoliaceae, Icacinaceae, Thymelaeaceae, Guttiferae, Myrtaceae, and Anacardiaceae though most families including Dipterocarpaceae and Euphorbiaceae had no tendency. Myristicaceae, Meliaceae, and Sapindaceae preferred dry habitats. Some species consisting of the flora of tropical mountains were found occasionaly in wet habitats of lowland though very rarely in dry habitats. There was a weak but singificant correlation between preference for wet habitats and abundance in Japanese tree flora of each family. These results suggest that the wet habitat where the forest floor is periodically filled with water has cooler environment than dry habitat, and families adapted cooler climate prefer the former